AP/ June 6, 2012, 6:00 PM

Dog nurses 2 endangered tiger cubs in Russia

In this picture taken, Monday, June 4, 2012, Shar Pei dog Cleopatra feeds two baby tigers in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, southern Russia. Two baby tigers whose mother refused to feed them found an unusual wet nurse, a wrinkled, sand-colored Shar Pei dog named Cleopatra.

In this picture taken, Monday, June 4, 2012, Shar Pei dog Cleopatra feeds two baby tigers in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, southern Russia. Two baby tigers whose mother refused to feed them found an unusual wet nurse, a wrinkled, sand-colored Shar Pei dog named Cleopatra. / AP Photo/Igor Okunin

(AP) MOSCOW - Two Siberian tiger cubs abandoned in Russia by their mother have found an unusual wet nurse - a wrinkled, sand-colored Shar Pei dog named Cleopatra, a zoo worker said Wednesday.

The cubs were born late May in a zoo at the Oktyabrsky health resort in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Zoo assistant director Viktoria Kudlayeva said the dog immediately gave the cubs all her attention.

"She accepted them right away," Kudlayeva said in a telephone interview. "She's cleaning them and breast feeding them as if they were her own. And they also sleep together."

The cubs - named Clyopa, after their adopted mother, and Plyusha - are also being fed goat's milk.

Kudlayeva said that the cubs pose no danger to the dog even though they are already showing their claws and hissing.

"They aren't aggressive and they depend on her for feeding," she said.

Fewer than 400 Siberian tigers - also known as Ussuri, Amur or Manchurian tigers - have survived in the wild, most of them in Russia's Far East.

© 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
8 Comments Add a Comment
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AOCGUY says:
Well they will suckle now but later they will eat momma
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karek40 says:
Beautiful, anyone wonder if the dog will be able to ween the tigers LOL
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tmittelstaed says:
How lucky that the dog was still producing milk from her own puppies - I assume she had just weaned them - when the cats came along.
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AnnieDanny says:
They are completely adorable, and so is the dog. What a great photo.
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col_dave says:
A mother's love knows no bounds, borders, or boundaries. That she accepted them unconditionaly as her own, is no surprise either.
Now if the rest of the World could get along as well as they do, now that would be the real miracle!
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mysticpizza replies:
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Ain't that the truth.
jonnyooh replies:
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Dog milk sounds like a heavy price for world peace.
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enlightenu says:
I CAN HAZ MILK?
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